Smelting ores



April 8 1924.

WITNESSES A. KPTEYN, JR

SMELTING ORES Filed June 1,

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Patented pr. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES -LBERT KAPTEYN, JR., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

' sMnILTING omis.

Application filed June 1,

To all whom z'zf may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT KAPTEYN, Jr., a citizen of Holland, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Smelting Ores, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide certain new and useful improvements in smelting ores, notably iron ores, whereby the use of coke or other carbonaceous fuel is reduced to a minimum, thus rendering the smelting operation exceedingly economical.

Another object is to reduce the time and expense in handling the raw materials used for the smelting process.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as hereinafter more fully described and specifically pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment ofthe invention is represented in the accompanying drawing formin a part of this specification, in which the gure is a side elevation, partly in section, of the improved blast furnace used for carrying out the smelting operation.

It is well known that in the present practice of smelting iron ores, at least, one ton of coal is required to produce a ton of pig iron. The lreaction in the blast furnace as used today is retarded and hampered because the coke and the iron ore are brought together in large lumps. The efiioiency of any reaction will increase in proportion to the smallness of the particles reacting and in proportion to the surface exposed. By grinding the ore andthe coal or coke to a fineness so that 85% will pass through a 20G-mesh screen particles formerly having a size of 1 cubic inch will then have their exposed surface increased 300 times by such grinding. By introducing such finely divided ore and coal or coke into a furnace by means of an air blast and igniting the mixture of air and fuel the chemical reaction is enormously accelerated' and the efficiency of the reaction .is greatly increased.

The reduction of the ore is carried on in a reaction chamber 10, preferably in the form of a hearth furnace, containing in its bottom a bath of molten iron 11, and into this reaction chamber is fed the finely divided ore, the finely divided carbonaceous fuel and air under pressure through a noz- 1921. Serial No. 474,122.

zle l2 on the end of a pipe line 13 provided `smelted is contained in a'hopper 15, and

the finely reduced coke or other carbonaceous fuel is contained in a hopper 16, and the said hoppers are connected at their bottoms by pipes 17 and 18 with the pipe line 13. In the pipes 17 and 18 are arranged measuring chambers 19 and 20 containing measuring wheels 21, 22 driven at a predetermined speed to feed the finely divided ore and the finely divided fuel in predetermined quantities into the stream of air in the pipe line 13 to mix the ore and the fuel and to hold the mixture suspended in the stream of air to be carried along by the latter and discharged through the nozzle 12 into the reaction chamber 10 above the bath of molten metal 11. The mixture of fuel and air passing into the reaction chamber 10 isburned thereof to drop as a fine rain into the molten bath 11. The furnace is tapped periodically for removing the molten metal and likewise the slag floating on the molten metal.

In order to'independently drive the measuring wheels 21 and 22, the following arrangement is made: On the shafts y25 and 26 of the wheels 21 and 22 are securedworm wheels 27 and 28 in meshwith worms 29, 30 secured or formed on shafts 31, 32 of motors 33, 34 of any approved type, preferably however, electrical motors of usual construction. It will be noticed that by driving the motors 33, 34 at higher or lower speeds the feed wheels 21, 22 are correspondingly driven to feed the reduced ore and the reduced fuel in independentlyv predetermined quantities into the pipe line 13 to be carried by the compressed air into the reaction chamber .10 as above described. It will be noticed that the comminuted ore and fuel are intimately mixed in the pipe line 13 prior to reaching the nozzle 12, and the mixture of ore, fuel and air is blown into the reaction chamber and burned therein. It is understood that the ore quickly releases its iron contents in the form of a fine rain which falls into the iron bath 11 in the bottom of the reaction chamber 10.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The herein described process for smelttherein to reduce the ore and allow the metal ing ores which consists in separately comminuting the ore and a carbonaceous fuel to a finely divided condition, then separately feeding the reduced ore and the fuel in independently measured quantities to a stream ofair under pressure to mix the ore and fuel Y and to hold the mixture suspended in the stream of air to be carried alon by the latter, discharging the air, ore an fuel into a closed reaction chamber above a bath -of molten metal, and burning the mixture .of fuel and air to reduce the ore and allow the metal thereof to drop into the said bath.

2. The herein described process for smelting iron ores which consists in separately comminuting iron-ore and a carbonaceous fuel, then separately delivering the comminuted iron ore and carbonaceous fuel in independently measured quantities to a stream of air under pressure to mix the ore and fuel to hold the same suspended in the stream of air to be carried along by the latter, discharging the air, iron ore and fuel into a closed reaction chamber and burning the mixture of fuel and air to reduce the ore and thereby produce molten iron and slag.

3. A. smelting furnace, comprising a reaction chamber adapted t0 contain a molten metal bath at its bottom, a pipe line having a nozzle opening into the said reaction chamber above the-metal bath and connected with an air pressure supply, hoppers one adapted to contain finely divided ore and the other finely divided fuel, pipes connecting the hoppers with the said pipe line and independently driven measuring means in the sald pipes `to feed the ore and fuel in predetermined quantities into the said pipe line to be carried along by the air under pressure and delivered by Way of the said nozzle into the reaction chamber.

ALBERT KAPTEYN. 

